Soul Purpose
by DojangDoll
Summary: One month after the Kishin is defeated it's found out that some of the madness wavelengths continued to stay. So Stein and five kids must now face what's left of the wavelengths together, while somehow finishing getting to school on time the next day.
1. Prologue

***Mackenzie***

I looked out the window and came face to face with the beautiful Death City. The sun was beginning to set and its eyes and mouth were drooping now. It cast a lovely shade of pink all over the sky, not to mention bathing the city and all its occupants in the streets that same shade. I sighed and sat back into my blue butterfly chair. It was so quiet. Just last month the Kishin was defeated, and there was turmoil all throughout the city. Everything was just now getting back to normal now that the madness wavelengths were being taken care of. Of course, my parents enrolled me into Death Weapon Meitster Acadamy, or DWMA, before they went to fight the Kishin. Then, Aracne's accomplice Mosquito killed my father in cannon fire, while my mother was left unscathed.

I sighed again and looked out the window. The sun was giving its last rays of light as it slipped past the horizon, and now the laughing moon was up beginning to give off its light. Dad and I always used to watch the moon come up… I then smelled some sort of Italian dish from the kitchen and knew it was almost time to eat. Folding up my butterfly chair, I closed the window slowly and walked into the kitchen.

"Hey mom," I said, setting the chair in a corner. She turned and smiled, a strand of hair falling into her face.

"Hi sweetie." She replied. "If you want you can set the table, I'm almost done." I nodded and went over to the cupboards, setting the plates and glasses on the counter.

"So, are you nervous about school tomorrow?" She asked dishing out some noodles.

I shrugged.

"Not really. I'm just scared of what's outside the school. After what happened to dad last month…" I said, fiddling with the stud earrings he had gotten for me when I was younger.

"Well, things like that will happen." She said, her voice struggling not to cry. "But he died knowing that I would be here to take care of you. So, we have to make sure that you do the best you can in the school, alright?"

Her arms were now wrapped around me in a tight hug, and I hugged her back.

"You know, I'm not that hungry mom, I think I'll just go to bed." I said softly.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "How about I put it into your lunch for tomorrow?" I nodded.

"Yeah, that would be great mom." I answered as I walked out of the kitchen.

I walked out into the hall and up the stairs to my bedroom. Once there I closed the door and turned off my light. I fell onto my bed in my clothes and sighed, looking at the uniform I'd have to adorn tomorrow. The red plaid skirt and white button down shirt seemed to look back at me saying, 'We're going to have to be worn by you?'. Eventually, the buttons quit staring, and the distant sound of the laughing moon lulled me to sleep.

***Chelsea***

"Are you sure this is the right place?" I asked as we walked into the city walls. My escort was walking in front of me and nodded.

"Yeah, this is Death City. And there's nothing to worry about here." He said pointing to a large building far off in the distance. "And that's DWMA, where you'll be training."

"Do you think we'll get there before school starts? It looks pretty far." I said.

"We will, just walk a little faster, come on."

Silence ensued for a few minutes with only our footsteps filling up the empty void. I looked around the town as we walked by the tall buildings. They were made of brick for the most part, and the ground was made of cobblestones. Fairly odd in this day and age.

"Isn't there a taxi service here or something?" I asked after about forty five minutes passed. The guide shook his head.

"There wasn't when I came here a month ago, so I don't think there would be one here now." He replied matter-of-factly.

"Why? Are you getting tired?" He asked, turning around to face me.

I shook my head, even though my feet felt like they were about to fall off of my legs at any second.

"I'm fine."

He sighed and shook his curly head of hair. Then he sat down in a doorstep and motioned for me to sit next to him.

"We'll still get there by morning I promise." He said. It was my turn to sigh as I sat down next to him. Even sitting, his trench coat framed body seemed imposing.

"Besides, you'll walk faster if you're rested." I nodded, agreeing with him and laid my head against the brick wall. The moon was smiling down on us as we rested in the doorway.

"Hey, Charlie, how long have you been escorting people here?" I asked as the moon began laughing.

"A little after the Kishin was released. Death needed new recruits and so I agreed to go around the world and collect Meisters and Weapons to come and train." He said calmly. As if it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Isn't it dangerous?" I asked.

He nodded.

"I lost my weapon over in Russia while picking up one of the new students. We ran into a really nasty guy, and… he took my partner…" He said, trailing off. "So, now, I bring kids here so things like that can't happen."

I smiled.

"That's really nice of you." I said, as my eyes fluttered shut. "Very nice…"

***Nathaniel***

I sat up quickly when I heard my alarm go off. The sound of Blair yowling in your ear at six a.m. would get anyone going. Then I slammed my hand on her head as she stopped.

"Oww…" She whined as she pawed at her tiny furry face. "You don't have to hit THAT hard. I AM waking you up after all…"

"Sorry Blair… I honestly forget my own strength. Especially in the morning." I apologized as I slipped out of bed. Blaire swished her tail from side to side as she held up a clean T-shirt in her mouth. Well, partially clean. It had been sitting on my desk chair since last Thursday when I had fallen into the bath that Blair had drawn. But at least it smelled good.

"Hmm… Orange looks good on you… So, can I come with you to school today?" She asked as she leapt onto my unmade bed.

"No." I answered. "You know the rules. No witches allowed. Even if you are a cat." I added, pulling on some socks.

She whined and turned into her human form. Yeah, the cat that was sitting on my bed turned into a human. Albeit, a good looking one. Yeah, it took me a while to get used to too, but I can look at her without getting a nosebleed thank goodness.

"Pretty please?" She asked, winking one eye. I shook my head again.

"No Blaire. The only reason you're allowed to stay here is because you're a cat!"

"Well, I think that's a stinky rule." She pouted. Her nose then scrunched up as she rooted around my blankets. "And this is just stinky." She complained as she held up one of my dirty socks.

"Sorry," I said as I grabbed it from her. Walking over to the hamper I noticed Blaire putting on one of my shirts. "What are you doing?"

She stopped and looked at me.

"I'm just trying it on." She said innocently. Her breast size was larger than the width of my body, but the T-shirt was larger and hung loosely around her.

I then turned towards the door, resolved to get to the school before Blackstar could. I'd been racing my loud assassin friend to the school for the past five weeks, not only to prove I could run faster, but also so I wouldn't be late at all.

"Did you eat breakfast?" Asked Blair as she followed me out my bedroom door through my messy house. "I don't need to worry about Soul or Maka because they make there own, but I never see you eat any…"

I stopped at the door with my ear buds halfway in, and cringed. I could hear the worry in her voice. I turned around and smiled.

"Don't worry; I'll pick some stuff up at the school. Okay? See you Blair! And thanks for the wake up!" I called before she could object. I slammed the door in the poor witch cat's face and ran down the stairs as fast as I could listening to the banging of drums and strums of bass guitars.

***C.J.***

I walked down the streets of Deathcity as the moon began its decent in the night sky. Its eerie smile directed just at me it seemed. No blood on it anywhere either… that's good. At least I'd have something to tell the Professor when I got back to the lab. But, as to why he had me leave early in the morning was beyond my thought comprehension at the present moment. But, theories kept floating around in my mind, as usual.

I sighed and continued to walk on.

I graduated from the academy over a year ago, and have been working along Professor Stein ever since the Kishin's defeat last month. The madness wavelengths had continued to show up, and he wanted to get rid of them once and for all. I don't blame him either. I know I wouldn't want to wake up laughing maniacly in the dead of night. The wavelengths can't and won't seem to leave him alone. We've tried everything to stop them… I'm just glad they aren't bothering me at all.

Now he wants me to go to DWMA to talk to Lord Death about a new experiment/trial thing that we've come up with to take care of the wavelengths. He also wanted me to try to get a weapon, considering I've never had one ever since I got to the school. No one could ever seem to agree with my own soul wavelengths.

I began to walk up the large staircase that led to the school itself. The sun was now beginning to rise, which ment that all the new students would begin to pour in for the new semester. About halfway there I stopped and turned around to witness the sun rise. It was still asleep as it rose and warm the ground below. Once its rays hit my face and reflected on my glasses I turned and continued to walk up the stairs, my way now covered in light.

But, that was stage one, I thought to myself. Stage two would be finding the source of the continuing wavelengths and then stamping it out would come after. I sighed.

Instead of subsiding the wavelengths seemed to be growing, and more so around Deathcity. Eventually we might have to evacuate the city if it gets too bad.

There was always something going on in the labs about the wavelengths. It seemed to be the only place in the city it could enter, and luckily it didn't seem to be spreading to anyone.

And… if it did… the effects could be catastrophic.

***Charlie***

I walked forwards occasionally checking to make sure Chelsea was still behind me. She was, though still half asleep. I fell asleep and didn't wake up to the alarm I had set, so now we had to rush to get her there on time.

"Come on. Come on. You don't want to be late on your first day right?" I called back to her. I saw the words register in her eyes and she began to speed up just a little. Sighing I turned around and continued to jog. Even though I made constant visits to the city, it still proved to be a confusing place to be. The buildings all looked the same, and if it was busy out it was even more overwhelming. Luckily our destination could be seem from all over, and children where coming from a whole matter of different directions towards the school, so we really just had to go with the flow.

And in about twenty minutes we were at the base of the stairs to the school. I stopped and looked over at Chelsea who was looking at the stairs in absolute horror.

"I have to walk up these every day?" She asked in disbelief. I nodded.

"You get used to it after a while though." I said, holding out my hand. "But it was a pleasure to meet you, and good luck at school." She shook it and looked up the stairs again as I turned to leave.

"Hey Charlie?" I stopped and turned.

"Yes?" I replied.

"Can you please walk with me to the top? And possibly to my classroom? I have no idea where I'm going." She asked me. Her school uniform which she had put on the night before gave her the look of a small child, and her short light brown hair completed the look. Her eyes began to pout.

"No." I said, walking away. "I have things I have to do. The stairs go straight to the front and from there, someone will show you around." I waved my hand.

Not thirty seconds later I heard a voice coming from my pocket.

"Charlie! Charlie pick up your mirror!" I heard a scratchy, hyper voice yell. I stopped, sighed and pulled out my pocket sized mirror. Inside was the figure of death. His white, pointed skeleton mask was staring back at me.

"Hello Lord Death." I replied with a nod. He held up a large white hand in return. "What can I do for you? I'm just about to head out again."

"I know that, and you don't know how happy I am to hear it, but I was wondering if you could come to Deathroom and talk to me for a little bit." I grimaced. "It's fairly important Charlie. And since you're here right now I think you could spare a few minutes."

Sighing, I nodded my head.

"Sure Lord Death. Just give me a few minutes to get to the building."

"Great! I'll have someone waiting for you at the door." He said joyfully as my mirror went blank, showing my face once more. I turned around and sighed as I ran towards the stairs. I met up with Chelsea on the first landing.

"I thought you where leaving." She said accusingly.

"I was, but then Death happened." I explained.

"You mean our headmaster?"

"Yeah, so I guess you get your escort to the top anyway." I said as we continued our climb.

***Nathaniel***

"I-am going- to kill you- Black Star." I panted while resting my hands on my knees. My blue haired friend was standing five feet away from me with his hands on his hips looking down at me. How badly I wanted to punch his ugly face. Slipknot agrees with me.

"You can't kill me Nathaniel! I'm going to surpass god, remember? Ah ahahahahaha!" Black Star cackled.

"Um, Black Star… It's time for class to start. …You promised that you wouldn't skip any classes this semester…" Tsubaki interjected. How this sweet, quiet, (not to mention… large chested) girl could stand to be his partner is beyond me. Black Star whirled and pointed a finger at her.

"I know I promised Tsubaki, but," He said as he pointed down the hall. "We have to show this newcomer where to go." I looked to where he was pointing and saw a tall guy in a trench coat walking towards us with a dazed look on his face.

"Uh, Black Star?" I whispered to him. "I don't think we should bother him."

"Nonsense! Who doesn't want to be bothered by the great assassin Black Star?" He shouted. The trench coat guy stopped and looked at us. I heard the air go into Black Star's mouth as he was about to introduce himself (even though the guy probably heard halfway down the hall…) and slammed my hand over it.

"Sorry sir, but we currently do not have a shortage of pocket watches, so you can go home now." I said shooing him off with my free hand. I felt Black Star lick my hand as the guy stepped forwards. I grimaced, though, as to what I didn't know. I was new to the school, and leave it to me to make fun of one of the teachers.

"Well I'm not selling watches until next week, so I think I can stay." He answered.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

***C.J***

At the very least, watching the new students walk up the stairs for the first time was entertaining. Girls and boys of all ages making that final step to gaze up at the tall towers of DWMA. I looked just in time to see one of the boys gaze up and actually fall back down the stairs. He came back up to the top of the stairs a few seconds later accompanied by his friends so I wasn't too worried. Then his friends looked up to the building and in the process dropped their friend once more. I chuckled to myself.

The reason I was standing out in front of the building right now and not talking to Lord Death was because he had asked me to wait for someone and bring him in. So now I'm waiting for someone named 'Charlie Wheaton', at least, according to the sign I have. Before I left Lord Death gave me a small picket sign with the boy's name on it.

"Just hold it up until he comes over to meet you." Lord Death had said to me.

I sighed and continued to hold it up. Man, my arm was getting tired…

I'd like to think that with all the experiments the Professor was having me do would build up my arm muscles, but I guess I'd actually have to perform legit physical labor to get any sort of results. The sign holding was a start at least.

More and more children poured in by the minute, when two in particular caught my eye. Both male, one with bright, spiky blue hair, and the other with short brown hair. The one in the blue seemed to be yelling something about how he would surpass God, while the other made idle threats and listened to his headphones as they walked into the building. My, how children's manners have dwindled since I was young.

Not to mention all of these young girls! Wearing those short skirts around all these adolescent males was not the smartest idea in the world. I can at least be sure that Lord Death had nothing to do with that. Probably Death Scythe if anything… he was always the one with the dirty mind… But it still isn't right! I don't see what the problem is with… wearing…

My eyes stopped upon one skirt in particular. The legs underneath this skirt were long and looked freshly shaven if my glasses-covered eyes could say anything about it. My eyes slowly looked up the figure of this person and saw a beautiful body. Small…lean… and the face! It looked so soft. So sweet. So hairy!

I staggered back in shock as I stood face to face with a man slightly taller than myself with his mustache and bearded face staring at me.

"Can I help you?" I asked as I caught my breath. He nodded and pointed towards the sign in my hand.

"Well, it seems that you're looking for me, so I think you can."

"Oh! Uh, hello then, uh," I stammered as I looked at the sign in my hand. "Charlie."

He held out his hand and I took it, shaking it in the normal human fashion.

"It's nice to meet you to." Charlie said as he stepped back, looking me up and down. Apparently approving he motioned towards the large doorway just a little ways behind us.

I nodded and motioned for him to follow, dropping the sign by one of the large pillars that graced the building's outer frames.

"My name is C.J. by the way," I added as we walked inside. Charlie nodded once more.

"C.J., good strong name."

That's all that was said on the way to Death Room. I tried to see if I could see the long legged girl from before, but I couldn't. If I was lucky, maybe… just maybe, she didn't have a partner yet. That would be too good to be true! Then again, there were a lot of new students this year, so it probably wouldn't be too hard for her to find a partner. Still, there was always a chance.

My mind then began to wander on the experiments done on this thing called 'Chance' we did down in the lab. And, as the variable 'Chance' implies, there wasn't a true dominant outcome of the experiments themselves. And chance always had a chance.

I jerked out of my thoughts as we reached a tall mirror in one of the hallway walls. I leaned forwards, breathed onto the glass and drew a small circle in the fog with my fingers. I then grabbed the circle and pulled the mirror open. Charlie walked in and I followed, closing the mirror behind me. We then began our walk through the guillotine hallway that led to the main part of Death Room. The bright blue, cloud covered sky contrasted radically with the dark red and silver of the guillotines. Looking up I could see the sharp blade shine in the nonexistent sunlight. I shuddered.

Then, we saw Lord Death in front of us and we walked through the last guillotine up onto the three stair tall, circular platform he was standing on.

"Hey you two! What's up?" He asked, holding out a large, white gloved hand.

Death was about eight feet tall wearing a long black cloak that looked like it had been strangled as it got towards the end of the fabric. He also had a mask on. A skeleton mask with three holes for his eyes and nose, with three long spikes going down the bottom. You could never really tell what his facial expressions where, but his body language said it all. Presently he was happy… at least… I think he was happy…

"Pretty good Lord Death!" Said Charlie as he walked up to the black clad headmaster and shook his hand. There was then an awkward silence that ensued as they stopped shaking hands.

"Why don't we get down to business then?" Death asked. He motioned towards a small table over by a tall, ornate mirror that stood in the center of the room. "Coffee?" He asked, sitting behind the table and in front of the mirror.

Both of us followed and sat down with our faces to the mirror politely taking the cups of coffee that Death had poured for us.

"So, what exactly do you need Lord Death? I do need to get back to work collecting the students." Charlie said as he sipped some of his tea. His face pinched together and he began to put some creamer into his cup.

I took a sip of my own and found it slightly bitter. Taking up one of the jars I began to put some sugar into my coffee. I took another sip to find it was only slightly better than the stuff we got back at the lab. Death certainly didn't worry about expenses that's for sure.

"Well, it's come to my attention that you two are the only ones in your graduating class to not have weapons. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but you both continually have contact with the school and the students unlike the others who went abroad after they graduated." Death said as he sipped his coffee. "I don't find the situation all right simply because of the fact you both are tightly knit with the school. So, I'd like you both to take on some students from this year's class and train with them."

All of a sudden, a harsh mist of creamer filled coffee filled the air over the table as Charlie spit out the bit he was drinking.

"What? Are you kidding?" He exclaimed.

"No I'm not Charlie. You both have need of a weapon, and the children we'll bring in won't have a Meister. And if you work with each other then they can give you more experience while you're helping to teach them the finer points of what it means to be in a partnership like this."

"But Lord Death, I'm going to be out in the field under attack, and I'll need an experienced weapon! I don't want to put my life into some child who doesn't know how to fight! How to kill if need be." I reasoned. Who would want to put their lives into that of someone so inexperienced? If I was to continue to be Stein's lab partner, I'd need to have a way to protect myself when we went to the prosecution stage of our plan to wipe out the wavelengths.

"That's why you'll teach them how to fight. And who better to teach someone how to fight than if their life is really in danger?"

"I understand that Lord Death, but I don't have time to teach anyone anything! Stein and I need to stamp out the last remaining wavelengths and I need someone experienced!"

"I know that C.J., but currently all of our weapons besides Death Scythe are out on missions and won't be of any assistance to you. Your wavelengths probably wouldn't match up with the older one's either."

"So, what makes you think that we'll be able to match up with these kid's you'll bring in?" Charlie asked as he put his chin in his right hand. Lord Death stood up and seemed to smile.

"I have good intuition about these types of things Charlie. Now, I'll go get them. You two just stay here and chit chat. Be back soon!" He called as he disappeared down the guillotine hallway.

I slumped down in my seat and looked up at the light blue sky. I didn't have time to teach anyone… and if Lord Death wanted the wavelengths gone then he'd have to see my side of the argument. It just wasn't right!

"So." Charlie said as he poured himself some more coffee. "Your trying to get rid of the madness wavelengths?"

I nodded.

"Stein and I have been working for about a month so far. We have an idea on how to get rid of it, but we'd have to go into dangerous territory and I'd need a weapon. That's why I came here."

"I see. What have you planned to do? Or am I not allowed to know?"

"You're not allowed to know." I said as I lay down on the ground. I propped up my right foot onto the coffee table and kept it there.

"Is there any way I could find out? The wavelengths are part of what made me lose my partner a while back and I want it gone just as much as anyone else."

I looked over at him as he was taking another sip of coffee.

"The only way you could learn more is if you where to become one of Stein's assistances. And seeing as this won't need any more than who we have already, I don't think we'll be needing you."

Charlie stared back at me, and slowly smiled.

"You never know. You may just need me for something someday."

"Yeah, right." I muttered as I shut my eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

***Mackenzie***

There were so many people in the classroom, I just couldn't believe it. I know the school was big and all, but I never knew that there would be this many students. There where kids standing by the chalkboard trying to look cool, kids by the window sill writing poetry, kids having ruler sword fights over the tops of the desks, and there where even kids, like me, who where actually sitting at a desk waiting for the teacher to come in. I sighed and lay my head in my hands while I looked around the chaos. It was so noisy! And that one kid in orange, how could he enjoy his music while there was all this hustle and bustle going on around him?

There was one other student who was listening to their ipod and they where sitting right next to me. And I got the feeling that I was hearing _Phantom of the Opera_ coming from the large purple SkullCandy headphones. That was when I heard another sound. Some sort of rattling, or a wheel, or something. I shrugged and closed my eyes as I heard a crash from down below. My eyes bolted, and from my high perch of the college like conference room I could see someone sprawled on the floor lying on top of a wheelie chair while the wheels continued to spin. I giggled along with the rest of the room, though, some of the laughter sounded like braying donkeys.

The figure that was sprawled out stood up and sat back down on his wheelie chair and continued over to the desk in the front and center of the room. He was wearing a patched up white and gray lab coat. His pants where gray, his hair was gray and the big bolt that was sticking out of his head was gray too!

"Good morning students." He said as the children who weren't in their seats scrambled to get there.

"My name is Professor Stein, and I will be your Science Studies teacher for the year. But, before we get to the fun part, we need to figure out your Weapon and Meister pairs. So, if you will please follow me to the gymnasium." At that, he sat down on his chair and rolled out of the room.

All the students got up and walked down the stairs towards the door. I was one of the last ones out and ended up behind the purple headphone girl.

"Hey," I said as I tapped her shoulder. "What are you listening to?"

"Oh! Well, I was listening to _Phantom of the Opera_, but now I'm listening to my theme song." She replied as she put the headphones around her neck. The music blared slightly louder.

"And what would that be?" I asked. Goodness was I feeling ambitious!

"_Chelsea._" She replied. "And that's my name too, Chelsea."

I smiled and held my hand out to shake hers, noticing the 'Weapon' pin that hung on the front of her uniform.

"Nice to meet you Chelsea. I'm Mackenzie. So, are you new around here? I've never seen you before."

"Yes, I just moved here from New York. I got a letter in the mail that said I was to attend school, and my parents said it was fine. I mean, I get my own apartment here! What could be better than that right?"

"Well, living here is pretty nice too." I answered. "Especially if your parents live with you."

"You've lived here your whole life? Wow, you must've gotten lost so much when you where little huh?"

I shook my head.

"Not really. After a while you get used to it." Chelsea shrugged.

"I'll take your word for it."

We reached the gym, which was filled practically to the brim with students. There where two parts to the gym as well. The Meister side and the Weapon side.

"Come on. This way." I said as I dragged my new friend Chelsea over to our appropriate part of the gym. I then noticed that we were standing next to the boy in the orange shirt. He was still listening to his ipod, his head bobbing to the music. I shook my head and smiled as a nice looking blonde lady in black and gold clothing walked to the center of the gym.

"Excuse me." She said softly into the microphone in her hand. I could hardly hear it over the loud speakers. She repeated herself, but to no avail. I then noticed a large blue skinned man with dreadlocks walk over to her.

"Plug your ears." I told Chelsea, as I plugged my own.

"ALL OF YOU PIPE DOWN AND LISTEN TO MARIA!" The big blue man shouted seconds later. Ten seconds later and there was still feedback coming out. But, it got the desired effect, and sure enough all the kids quieted down.

"Thank you Cid." Said Maria as she took the microphone back. "And welcome students to Death Weapon Meister Academy!"Applause followed and quieted down as soon as they noticed Cid walking back towards the center.

"Over the next few years at the Academy you will all learn many things. B-but you won't be alone. You will have a partner who will work beside you and help you through all the tests and trials you will go through. As you can see, there are t-two sides to the gym. The Meisters." She pointed. "And the Weapons." She pointed again. "Meisters are the people who wield the Weapons in a battle. They are responsible for the tactics and transportation in a fight for the most part. The Weapons are responsible for… well, defending and killing would be a good way to put it I guess."

I quirked my eyebrow. This lady, Maria, wasn't doing such a good job of calming anyone's nerves. I mean, they where already tense about starting a new school, but now you tell them their going to have to kill? Chelsea looked like she was a ghost along with most of the other females in the room, while the vast majority of the male population where high-fiving and laughing.

"But, Meisters and Weapons don't always fight. They work together and help each other through the problems in your life..." She said as she looked over into a corner. I followed her gaze and saw Professor Stein smoking a cigarette while sitting in his wheelie chair. "But ultimately…, the goal of DWMA is to stamp out all the evil in the world. Everyday there are innocent p-people getting killed by bad people who wish only to kill…. We are here to stop them from becoming something even more evil, but it is simply too much to ask of one person… So…" She stopped and walked over to Cid. She whispered something in his ear. He nodded, took the mic and she ran out of the gymnasium. I couldn't see where though because of all the people in the way.

"Alright, so as Maria was saying, It's too much to ask one person to kill another evil being. That's the reason for the partnered groups. And how do we determine who is partnered with who?" He asked. Students started to mumble to themselves as a large orb was lowered into the room.

"We use this machine. The SoulReader.3. When we turn this on in a couple of seconds your vision will be changed. You won't see people, but you will see their souls. Try to keep calm. Please… Once this happens, you will see a small cord that's coming out of you. I want you to follow that cord to one other person in the room. We'll give you about five minutes then we'll turn off the machine." He looked over to the corner Maria did.

"Stein?" He called. I glanced over to see him nod, smile, and push a button.

The SoulReader.3 then began to glow and my sight went dark. But, one by one little glowing souls popped up all over the room. They were different colors and seemed to embody what the actual person looked like. I heard screaming and chuckled.

Then, I felt a slight tug from my chest area and looked down. Sure enough, I saw a small yellow cord going somewhere. I turned to follow it, looking over at Chelsea's red soul, and ran straight into someone. I looked over and saw it was an orange soul with little headphones coming out of the ears.

"Sorry," I apologized. The soul shrugged and continued to listen to his music. I looked back down at the cord and saw that it led to him.

"Uh, sorry to bother you again." I said floating over to him. "But it appears that we're partners."

The soul looked at me.

"But you're a weapon." He said.

"I know… so, you're a weapon too then? How does that work out?" He shrugged again.

"Beats me."

"What's your name?" I asked, floating in front of him. He floated back a little, obviously disturbed by my intrusion of personal space.

"Nathaniel," He mumbled. "You?"

"Mackenzie." I replied. "After this is over we should talk to somebody about-" I was cut off as the light returned.

There where groans from all over the gym, as eyes adjusted. Once my eyes did I saw I was facing the orange shirted headphone guy from before. He was much taller as a human with short, spiky brown hair.

I stuck my hand out, and after he figured out what I wanted he shook my hand. After our silent acknowledgment I walked to the other side of Chelsea who hadn't moved since the lights went out.

"So, who's your partner?" I asked softly as everyone was settling down.

"I don't know. I couldn't see any cord at all…" She said.

"Oh," I said as I put my hand around her shoulders. "I'm sorry… But my partner is another weapon, so maybe we could go talk to someone to fix it. Does that sound good to you?"

She shrugged and pressed play on her ipod. I sighed and began to play with my earings.

"Hello everyone!" Shouted a cheerfully, raspy voice. The rest of the student body and I all turned to see a large black cloaked man with a skull mask walk in. Lord Death. I'd seen him not too long ago when there was the funeral for my father. I had asked him to bring him back, but, he just looked at me, patted my head and walked on. I knew he couldn't… but he was and still is Death. He should have some control over things like that… I sighed and looked painfully back over to him.

"I'd like to welcome you all once more to DWMA! And to remind you all to work hard while you're here. Now, I want all of you to go back to your classrooms and begin the lessons with your new partners and teachers. If you are in different classes just go to the Meister's class. We will get your schedules redone as soon as possible. Now, if you have any questions or problems, please come see me."

All at once, the students got up and began to walk out of the gymnasium. I pulled the plugs out of Chelsea's ears and began to drag her and Nathaniel over to Lord Death. After a few minutes of pretending to be trout, we finally got to him. When he turned towards us, I could tell he recognized me instantly.

"Hello Lord Death." I said as I stopped a few feet in front of him.

"Hello Mackenzie," He said somewhat cheerfully. "And what is it you and your friends need today?"

"Well, you see, none of us have Meisters." I explained quickly.

"And we where wondering if there was anything you could do." Added Chelsea. I looked over to her. When had she stopped listening to her ipod? I mentally shrugged and turned back towards Lord Death.

"As a matter of fact there is something I can do. If you three will just come to my office your problems will be solved post haste."

He started to walk away, well, considering I couldn't really see his feet it seemed like he was more floating than anything. I motioned for Nathaniel to follow since I knew Chelsea was listening now. He started walking forwards after us, slowly, but still following.

"So, you must've just moved here right?" I asked Chelsea as we were following Death.

"Yes," She answered. "I just got here last night from New York. And you?"

"Oh, I've lived here my whole life. My parents got here when they where kids and have stayed here ever since."

"Cool. Hey, you're going to have to show me around the City so I know where to go. Okay?" She asked.

I nodded.

"Sure. It's actually easier to navigate than you might think." I answered. Chelsea opened her mouth to say something else when Death interrupted.

"If you all will just step through the door." He said as he motioned us inside. Nathaniel went through first, then Chelsea, then I. As the door closed I felt Death's large hand on my shoulder.

"Mackenzie, about your father… I'm sorry if I upset you when I didn't answer but…" I shook my head.

"It's fine. Really Lord Death. I mean… I understand now that you couldn't do anything… I was just upset then…"

"I'm aware, so, at the very least I'd like to try to make it up to you."

"How? Lord Death, the only way you could do that is to bring my father back, and I don't think you can do that."

"No, I can't." He agreed.

"But, you're Death! You're the one who comes to take away the souls of the people who work for you. Why can't you just take the lives of those who deserve it? And once the Kishin left the school, you had nothing to hold you back! Nothing! You could've done something! You could've done something…" I cried. I looked up into his dark black eyes. And he stared back into my hazel ones.

"I know Mackenzie, but I still had to protect Death City from the wavelengths, if I had left then who know what would've happened. I mean, both of your parents could've died."

I nodded, slowly, wiping tears from my eyes.

"Yes, I know… I'm sorry for my outburst it wasn't polite." I sniffed.

"It's perfectly fine. But for now, lets go solve your Meister problem shall we?" He asked as he guided me along the guillotine hallway. I nodded solemnly and followed him. "As for how to make it up to you, I'm working on a type of present for the town. And if it's alright, I'd like you to help me."

"What are you making?" I asked.

"A special mirror that will let you talk to people who've died." I stopped dead in my tracks and looked up at Lord Death.

"Are you serious?" I asked. "That would be amazing! Of course I'll help you!"

"Wonderful! I'll send a letter to you when I'd like you to come by."

"Sure!" I said as I walked along with a new found spring in my step. My heart was quite content… that is until it flew up to the ceiling and stayed there. For when we got to the main part of Death Room, I laid eyes upon someone that would change my entire outlook on life.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

***Charlie***

"Hello," Came a cheery voice from the door. I turned and looked to see a tall girl with short brown hair walk through the guillotine hallway. She was followed closely by a boy in an orange T-shirt wearing headphones. I then heard a small explosion of coffee tea from behind me. I turned around just as C.J. was wiping the dribbling liquid from his mouth with his stitched together gray shirt. His face was beet red and his glasses started to fog up slightly. To make matters worse, he was grinning like an idiot with complete surprise written all over his face from behind his shirt sleeve.

I turned back around with a slight grin and stood up, holding out my hand.

"Hello there. My name's Charlie." I said as I shook her hand.

"Chelsea." She replied with bright eyes. "And I believe this is Nathaniel if I heard him mumble correctly." I turned towards the boy. He was tall as well. And he stuck out his neck to the front as he nodded his head up and down to what seemed to be the beat of the music.

"Cool." I replied, motioning for her to join us at the table. Nathaniel seemed interested enough in the clouds that were floating around the room.

"What's your name?" Asked Chelsea as she sat in between us on the side of the table.

C.J.'s breath caught, but he quickly regained control.

"C.J." He answered with a handshake and quick kiss to her knuckle. "Just C.J. And it's wonderful to meet you." This time it was her turn to blush. I smiled to myself once more when I noticed her look behind me and begin to grin ever so slightly. I should've taken that as my own personal hint to NOT LOOK BEHIND ME. But, I did.

When I turned around, my eyes fell upon a young woman whose hazel eyes also happened to fall upon mine. I stared at her while she stared back at me. She froze like a deer for a brief moment as she stepped into the open field of the room. Then, she slowly drew her eyes away from mine, and walked to Chelsea, who was seated right next to me. I didn't catch any of the conversation that ensued, but I did catch subtle hints of her trying to catch my attention. For one example, she had her body turned slightly towards me as she was talking to Chelsea. While doing so, she brushed her hair back on the side I was facing and smiled. Her eyes briefly flashed towards me, but when she saw that I was staring back at her, she looked away quickly and blushed. I too followed her suit.

"So, are you all here?"

I turned with the other three who where sitting at the table and saw Lord Death walk into the Death Room. Nathaniel continued to bob his head to the music.

"If you mean all five of us, then yes." Said the girl next to Chelsea.

"Good." He said as he walked up to the table. As he passed Nathaniel, however, he noticed he wasn't paying attention at all. I noticed him sigh as he lifted his great, white, gloved hand above his hand… and brought it straight down on top of his head. Nathaniel was sprawled out on the ground, flat on his face, with the shape of a rectangle without its ends imprinted on his noggin. His headphones fell out of his ears and he groaned.

Slowly, he sat up and looked at the rest of us with a look of utmost confusion on his face.

"What did you do that for?" He asked. Lord Death motioned for him to come over to the table.

"I do not want another pupil to listen to headphones during their training." He answered. "One is enough… But anyway!" He turned towards me and C.J. "Boys, meet your new weapons!"

What followed was utter silence and shock.

"We're their partners?" Chelsea asked slowly. "But they don't look like they're in our grade level."

"Yes, you are Chelsea. These boys have need for a weapon, but circumstances prevent them from having one at this time. Albeit they're older than you three, but I think you all will make everything work out right?" He asked as he walked around and put on of his hands on both my and C.J.'s shoulder. Again his words where greeted with silence.

"Uh, Lord Death." I said, resisting the urge to push his hand off of my shoulder. "I'm glad that you found us partners and all that but, how do know we'll be able to fight with them?"

He appeared to frown slightly.

"I thought you both would be able to adjust, seeing as we can't really change what a Weapon transforms into."

"I never said we couldn't fight using them, that won't be a problem." I answered.

"The problem is if our wavelengths will work together or not." Finished C.J. That was a problem he brought up while Lord Death was gone earlier, and it's a slight factor that could decide if we lived through a fight or not.

"Well, oddly enough, they do." He replied. Looking at the younger ones, he explained to them how wavelengths had to match up with one another to make sure that they where compatible. "If there isn't a good connection between the partners, then the consequences could be disastrous. I'm able to see the connections between souls, and right now I can tell that you all will work very well together as partners Rest assured."

He walked back over to Nathaniel and walked him over towards me.

"Charlie. You, Nathaniel, and Mackenzie," He said, motioning towards the girl sitting next to Chelsea. "Will all be partners. These two already are connected to each other, and theirs to you, though… some stronger than others if I can still see things correctly…" He said. I blushed slightly once more, and out of the corner of my eye I could see Mackenzie doing the same.

"C.J. You and Chelsea will be partners. I think you only need one good person to keep you safe. And, Chelsea, I believe will be that one good person for you."

After Lord Death successfully made the majority of the population in Death Room a band of blushing idiots, he pushed us towards the entrance of the room itself. The younger ones walked in front of us through the guillotine hallway. Lord Death walked slowly behind us.

"Now, you boys may be out of school, but these three aren't. If you would, please attend classes with them for the first couple of days. Then I'll get some passes for you all to go do whatever it is you need to do during the day instead of wasting it in school… As an adult I probably shouldn't be pushing skipping school, but considering the circumstances and the severity of the situation, I deem it to be suitable." He said. The door out to the hallway was already opened and the others where waiting for us to step out.

"But please, watch out for them. They need you just as much as you need them." He pushed us out the door and as he closed it he waved his great white gloved hand. "Byyyye!" Silence.

"Well, that was fun." Said Chelsea.

"If you think getting talked to by one of the most deadliest ideas in the entire universe 'fun', then yes, it definitely was." I answered walking down the hall. I heard four other sets of footsteps accompany me.

"But at least we got our problems solved, right?" Asked Mackenzie.

A few grunts responded to her comment.

"For the most part, but we still have to train you until you're fit enough to go out into the field." C.J. said.

"Go into the field? You mean outside where the Madness was?" Asked Mackenzie with alarm.

"Is." C.J. replied.

"Wait, I thought that the Madness disappeared after the Kishin was killed," Said Chelsea.

"For the most part it was, but we've recently figured that some of the wavelengths still linger around the outskirts of the City. No doubt in other places of the world as well."

"So, you're going to bring three newbs to help you get rid of this?" Asked a deeper voice. I turned around and saw that it was Nathaniel that had talked. One of his headphones was hanging down while he walked. He now seemed to be interested in the topic, as it now concerned him.

As C.J. continued to explain why it was we needed them, I got to thinking… what Weapons where they? What if we couldn't use them correctly? I answered my question. Lord Death wants us to practice with them first of course, but even then, it takes a long time to form a bond between a Meister and a Weapon. It was a delicate process which requires time and effort. At the present, seeing as the Madness wavelengths were still posing some sort of a threat, we didn't have as long as most teams would have when the bond was being made.

This factor alone I'm sure would prove most frustrating in the coming weeks that we'd be spending with each other…. At least, I think it would only be weeks. Seeing as we didn't really have that much time to waste. But, afterwards, after all this would be taken care of, then what? We'd almost have to stay partners after that. I'd still have a job to do, and that does occasionally require a Weapon's use… C.J. I'm sure would probably still work for Stein, which means he'd need a weapon all the time. And from what I know of Stein I want to know how he managed to survive this long.

How will I manage to survive him? I know he's completely obsessed with dissection and reconnecting things that don't necessarily go together in the first place. But the Madness Wavelengths might be adding to that no matter how miniscule they might be. I remembered the reports from a month before, recalled that he went plenty mad. His tolerance might've gone up since then though, which ment that we might actually have his sane side for a longer period of time. Then again, his body might take any sort of Madness given, take it, and use it right up. And if there's a steady flow of just a little bit of it then-

A tap on my back.

I looked and saw Mackenzie staring up at me.

"Uh, we're all going back towards the class… C.J. said to tell you to come along too." She said softly. I nodded and turned down the hallway she had indicated the others went down. She only came up to about my mid-neck, which meant she was shorter, which meant she needed to walk much faster to keep up with me. But, she still kept up. I glanced in her direction and saw she was looking straight ahead. Her loose bang hair stayed by her face, only letting me see bits and pieces of its entirety. Then she glanced over at me, and I kept staring at her. The hazel eyes. Both of which where now slowing down in speed.

I slowed down myself and came to a complete stop a few feet away from her. She then walked forwards and held out her hand. I noticed her cheeks had a slight shade of red added to her normal skin tone.

"I'm really looking forwards to working with you, Charlie. It's nice to meet you." Her faced turned into a grin. I took her hand and we both shook. It was so tiny compared to mine. It just felt so, right, I suppose.

"You too Mackenzie." I answered. "Shall we?" I motioned towards the hallway. She nodded and we continued to walk.


End file.
